Shirt-finishing device for laundries.



C. C. KING, C. B. LAMBERT L I. H. GIBBLE.

SHIRT FINISHING DEVICE FOR LAUNDRIES.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZZ. T9151 Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

mamen I lll Ari y(JLItrinitis" C. KING, CHARLES yE'. LAMBERT, AND JOSEPH H. einer@l forsi'oui CITY, y

Free N IOWA. f

To all whom/'it may Concern Be 1t lmoivnthat ive, Cnwnins C. KIXG,

'CHARLES B. LAMBERT, and JOSEPH. H. GIB- BLE,L citizens ofthe lfnited States, and resident-s ofSiouX City, in the'l count)v of Woodbury and State of Iowa, have invented certain new yand useful Improvements in Shirt- Finishing 4Devices forfLa'undries, of which the following isV a specification.

The present invention'relates to machines.V Y y In commercial laundries the usual method of finishing `the various parts of shirts consists in pressing or ironing the ,neck-bands,

laundry cuifs`,"bosoms, sleeves, etc., by machines designed to press or iron the respective parts. These machines, however, fail to perform the Work perfectly, and it is necessary, linally, to iron the'uniinished portions by hand ironing.v This -hand linishing requires that the operator hold the shirt'i'upon the board with one hand While vthe other hand operates the iron: In vie'vv of the vast number of'garnie'iits which are laundried, this hand finishing is an expensive item, and requires greatcare on the part of the operator to preserve the proper shape of the garment.

'l`l'i e pr esent invention, has, therefore, for

its primary object, the production. of an improved device for', holding shirts While being hand finished.

Another object of the invention is' the production of aydevice of this class particularly adapted to preserve the lshape of shirts While being hand tinished.

.A further',object -of the invention is the production of an v`improved device of this adapted to automatically adjust itself to all sizes of shirts.

A still-,further.object of the invention is the 'production of an improvedfarticle of thisfclassembodying certain novel features ofz`-construction xvhich l.reduce the costA of manufacture; a-nd :increase lthe' -etiiciency Vith y these? and other obj eets' in fvievv, `the invention f consisting-.Lin the construe-tion',

coml'Jinationiand; novelajrraiigenienti of parts, will lie-'fully understood f romthefolf loiving description, reference being had to tlie afccol'npanying drawings vivlnch form a part of this application and 1n which vlike characters of reference indicate correspond- 'lsHIE'T-EINISHING DEVICE Eon LAUNDn-IES.

Specification' of Letters Patent. L "Iglfenfed Oct. '26 1915.' Application filed July 22, 1915. Serial No. 41,373. l I' .the toggle members.

Although We have illustrated and hereinafter described an embodiment suitablefor practising the invention, We -n'ouldnot `be understood as being limited to the specific structure chosen for illustration, for varous alterations in the details of yconstruetion and arrangement of parts ma)v be -made without departing fronrtlie spirit andscope of the invention, as 'defined in'the appended claims. f

The invention contemplates, broadly, mechanism including anfexpanding 'band to engage the interior of the neck-band of a shirt and adapted to `loe held retifactablvv upon the vironing-board, retractable.members for holding the shoulders'of the shirt upon the ironing-board, and means for conf trolling the expanding hand and said members. r

In its preferred form the invention embodies means controlled by the operator for retracting 'the band and saidlmemberS, and While in'retracted position'to` contract the band to permitthe removal and application ofthenec'k-bands from and to saidfland.

Referring non' to the illustrations, 5,"is a horizontal shaft, the interi'nediate' portion of which is preferahl)v square'yor.'iateside'm 'and the endl portions Aof whiclrvare cylint'he 'shoulders 'of a.'y shirt-,fas presente'din Fig The arms are slid'ably mounted upon the shaft y"to perinitj-*of'ftlieir adjust- 1"ne`nt` ..toivardy or' from Ieach vother to suit p various sizes of shirts:l

'endsof vthe squared Ikportionipof beror othervieldable materiahf to .engage terarms is secured a forwardly-disposed..

arm, 13, between which and the adjacent arms are interposed compression-springs,

1&1, which tend to force the latter arms from' each other and thereby expand the band by forcing the segments from each other.

. members.

\The end portions of the shaft a're encircled byretracting-springs, 15, each having one end secured to t-he shaft and the other to the adjacent bearing. `The said springs serve` to hold the arms 9 and band 12 in yieldable engagement with the ironingboard.

The arms 11 are interconnected by togglejointed links, 16, the ends of which are universally pivoted to the said arms, as by providing sockets, 17, (Fig. l) on--rthe under sides of the arms to inclose balls, 18, on the ends of rods To the nodal point of the toggle links is secured one end of a iexible link, 20, thel opposite end of which is secured to a foot-' lever, 21, fulcrumed upon a suitable bearing, 22,` mounted, (we will assume), upon the floor. y

The. lever, 21, and arm 13 are intercon-` nected by a link, 23, the upper end of which is provided with a bifurcated head, 24,

which inclo`ses the end of the 'arm 13 and is provided' with a longitudinal slot to inclose a transverse pin 25, in the arm.

On opposite sides of the foot lever, the fulcrum pin is encircled by the ends por'- tions of a spring, 26, the extreme ends of which are secured to the sides of the bearing, and-the intermediate portion of which passes under and engages the foot-lever. The said spring serves to retract the lever and hold the same in its upper or normal position.

The-slotted head of the link, 23, permits the foot-lever to move upwardly a distance after the shirt-engaging members are seated upon the ironing-board, to slacken the flexible link and relieve the toggle members of all strain.

In operating the device the footlever 1s first depressed, to coact with the link, 23 to turn the shaft and raise the shirt-engaging members; and to,.c`oact with thelmk, 20, and toggle members to contract the band. The operator then holds the lever down thus holding the shirt-engaging members inthe elevated position indicated 1n dotted llnes in Fig. 3. lVhi'le the members are held. 1n this position, a shirt is applied by placing the neck-band, which has been .previously 19, threaded into the togglel It is now evident that the shirts are readily applied and removed, and held securely in position upon the board for hand finishing. Having vthus described our invention,

whatwe claimas new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is,-

1. A -.device for holding shirts upon an ironing board comprising, a contractible element adapted to engage the interior of the neck-band' of a shirt and movable toward and from the ironing-board, members movable toward and from the ironing-board andadapted to impinge the upper portions of the shirt, and means for moving said element and members and contracting said lele ment.

2. A device for holding shirts upon an ironing board comprising a contractible element adapted to engage the interior of the neck-band of a shirt and held in yieldable -engagement with the ironing-board, members adapted to impinge the upper portions of the shirt and held in yieldable engagement with the ironing-board, and means for raising said element and members and contracting said element.

3. A device for holding shirts upon an ironing-board comprising a rock-shaft mounted.v upon theironing-board, an ex` pansible and contractible band carried thereby and adapted to engage the interior of the neck-band of a shirt, arms carried by the rock-shaft to impinge the shoulder portions oi' the shirt, means for actuating the .rockshaft to raise and lower the band and said f members, and mechanism vcontrolled by said means'for expanding and contracting said band.

4. A device for holding shirts upon an ironing-board comprising a rock-shaft .mounted upon the ironing-board, an expansible and contractible band carried thereby and adapted to engage the interior of the neck-band of a shirt, arms carried by the.

rock-shaft. to impinge the shoulder portions of the shirt, and adjustable toward and from each other, means for actuating the rock-shaft to raise and lower the band and said' members, and mechanism controlled by said means for expanding and contracting said band.

1,158,234 t zal 5. A device for holding shirts upon an ironing-board comprising a suitable support, a horizontal shaft mounted rotatably thereon, companion arms slidably carried by the shaft land yieldable toward each by the neck-band of 'a shirt, said arms being secured to opposite sides of the band, arms carried by said shaft to engage the upper portions of the shirt, means for holding the band and said latter arms in yieldable 'engagement with the ironing-board, means for raising the band and said latter arms from the ironing-board, and mechanism conL trolled by said latter means for moving said first arms toward each other. l v 6. A device for holding shirts upon an ironing-board comprising la suitable support, a horizontal shaft mounted rotatably thereon, vcompanion arms slidably carried set our hands.

by the shaft and yieldable toward each other, an openband adapteddto be inclosed by the neck-band of a shirt and embodying two .segments each separated from the other,

said segments being secured, respectively, to other, `an open band adapted to be inclosed gage the shoulder portions of the shirt,

means for turning the shaft to raise said ,toggle-links, and means for retracting .the

shaft.

' In testimony whereof we have hereunto CLAUDIUS C. KING. CHARLES B. LAMBERT. JOSEPH 'I-I. GrIBBLE eol 25 said arms, arms carried by the shaft to en- 

